Come On Spring!!!

I've had the pleasure of spending the last 3 days doing all kinds of stuff at the farm I use in Fuquay. Here's the rundown on the farm...it is an old tobacco farm that has a few pastures with Wilbur, the 50 year old donkey, 2 sheep, 2 dogs, and a ton of goats that can all scream my name. They say Beeeeeeeennnn!!!!! every time I show up. Most of the rest of the farm is wooded with pine, tulip poplar, oak, maple, pecan, black walnut and few persimmon trees here. There is an old pasture of @ 10-12 acres that was overgrown with weeds until last fall when I disked it. Acorns become trees, same with pine cones and whatever else falls out of a tree. I've gone through the field with a chainsaw, loppers, and a weedwacker and almost have it completely scalped. No, there is no bush hog. I've also dumped a ton of fertilizer out there. By hand. A ton. So at this point I've probably ventured 250 miles or so back-and-forth across this field and have loved every minute of it. I've got 4 varieties of clover that I have spread with a little spreader bag thing and the next step is gonna be to add some blueberry bushes, peach, apple, and cherry trees. I'm planning to surround the whole deal with lavender and rosemary since they are natural deer deterrents.


I put bees out there in 2003 and have kept them with varying degrees of luck since then. I spread my bees between my house, the farm, and a few other locations.

I'll have packages at my place on April 4, 2010. Call for details. As of 3/7/2010, packages are sold out.


Package-Pick up 4/4/10-Sold Out

Queens-Pick up 4/4/10-Available-$20/each

Complete Set up-Available-$230 ready 4/8/10

Lesson Openings-send email for day and times.

Packages

Packages will be available this spring starting in April. They will be $77 and are available marked or un-marked.

Pick up dates are April 4th and 18th

Packages $77

Queens will be $20.

Kits are $235
-package bees installed
-2 deeps w/ wooden frames and wax foundation-wired
-lid, inner cover, feeder, bottom board

Taking students for lessons starting April 14th.

It is cold. And it has been raining, but only on the days that I need to do stuff. The bees are doing fine. Not much point feeding them. It seems like once it gets really cold, the bees won't take syrup anymore. Since I live in NC, it can be 35 degrees one day and 65 the next. The Camellias are blooming at my house and on nice days I see some activity from the hives. Also on nice days I've been putting out a saucer with a little syrup in it. I float wine corks on top of it so the bees will have something to land on without drowning.

On another note, last night (Sat), I got home only to find 3 chickens on top of my garbage can in my front yard! So I changed into the dirtiest clothes I could find, grabbed a flashlight, and had to snatch up birds at 3AM. The chickens were mine. I've got a whole bunch, much to the delight of my neighbors. It seems like only the hens feel the need to escape the backyard paradise I have provided for them. In my opinion a chicken will behave one of 2 ways, either stupid or crazy. Yet when I have to chase them around a muddy backyard at 3AM only to be outsmarted, what does that make me? I do have one rule when it comes to catching a bird. Once you start, you don't stop until it is caught. Otherwise you're just teaching them that it is a rewarding experience to run away.

I caught all the birds and located a few more hens and got them all in their coop where the roos were just chilling. Of course since it was 3AM they thought the sun must be up somewhere, and they rooed till about 5 AM. Sorry neighbors but hey, your dogs bark all the time so we'll call it even.

I've been getting some calls about bees for the spring. I'll be going to Georgia again this April to get packages. I've got 2 dates, April 4th and April 18th. The packages can be picked up at my house in South Raleigh anytime after noon. I don't provide bees in March b/c the weather usually acts all wacky and I get them from Georgia b/c it is far enough south that the bees seem to be a few weeks ahead of the ones from around here.

And in the future, I'll spell check and proofread before I freak out and hit the publish button

Getting Started

All right everybody, you've asked for it so here it is. I've finally started a beekeeping post since I get so many of the same questions over and over. Yes, I've got bees and have cared for them for the past 7 seasons now with varying results. This has been and rewarding endeavor and I am pleased to share what I have learned with with anyone who cares to listen. I'll make posts as time allows and try to keep everything as simple as possible. This will be a source for information, supplies, bees, advice,...etc.